Greece 2010 deficit bigger than forecast

BRUSSELS (AP) — Greece’s government deficit was significantly bigger than forecast last year, European Union data showed Tuesday, underlining the difficulties the debt-ridden country is having to get its finances under control.

The country’s debt swelled to 142.8 percent of gross domestic product, according to data released by EU statistics agency Eurostat — the highest in the eurozone and above the 140.2 percent the Commission had forecast.

Greece had to be saved from bankruptcy with 110 billion ($160 billion) in rescue loans last May, but continues to struggle to raise revenue as its economy shrinks. Most economists expect the country will eventually have to restructure its debt — either by asking creditors to give it more time to repay or even cutting the total amount owed. However, EU officials have so far ruled out a restructuring.

The 17 countries that use the euro had an average deficit of 6 percent last year, double the 3 percent allowed under EU rules.

The highest deficit was produced by Ireland — the second country that needed to be bailed out by other EU nations and the International Monetary Fund — reaching a record 32.4 percent of GDP because of expensive bank bailouts, only slightly above the 32.3 percent forecast.

Portugal, which is currently negotiating its own package of rescue loans, had a deficit of 9.1 percent, way above the 7.3 percent the Commission had expected last fall, but Lisbon had warned markets of the upward revision on Saturday.

There were some good news for Spain, the country that most analyst view as the next weakest link in the eurozone. It’s deficit was 9.2 percent of GDP, slightly below the 9.3 percent forecast by the Commission.

Euro newcomer Estonia was the only eurozone country to produce a surplus — 0.1 percent of GDP — last year, but the tiny Baltic nation adopted the common currency this January.

Bond markets quickly reacted to the news.

The yield — or interest rate — on Greek 10-year bonds hit 15.18 percent, up from 15.06 percent at the open, while Portugal’s rose to 9.54 percent from 9.47 percent. Spain’s 10-year yield meanwhile inched down to 5.47 percent, from 5.48 percent, but remained way above the 4 percent they traded at just last October.

The United Kingdom, which is not in the eurozone, recorded a deficit of 10.4 percent of GDP — the third highest in the EU behind Ireland and Greece. However, Eurostat said it had some reservations on the quality of data reported by the U.K. because of the way the country records its military expenditure.